The American Kennel Club is excited to announce the Regional Junior Showmanship Events!
AKC Sport & Events is excited to announce Regional Junior Showmanship Events. The AKC will approve up to eight all-breed clubs the honor of holding Junior Showmanship Regional Events throughout the calendar year.
Regional Junior Showmanship events will be structured and judges in the same manner as the Limited Class Junior Showmanship Competition, per the Junior Regulations. The goal is to provide Juniors with an opportunity to participate in a unique event that is more easily available in terms of their time and travel.
Junior Criteria for Entry:
- The Junior must reside in the region
- The Junior will have earned three first place wins in an Open Class with competition in the prior 12 months ending 3 months prior to the date of the event.
Requirements for a club to host a Regional Junior Showmanship Event:
- Use of a Superintendent
- Should there be an entry fee, it should not exceed the regular event fee.
- Regions are based on the attached map.
- The Junior Regional must be held in conjunction with an all-breed event.
- AKC will offer $1,000 in Scholarship funds for Best Junior to be matched by the club.
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Up-Coming Events
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Look for a Junior Showmanship Regional Event coming to a location near you during the 2026 season!
Nebraska Kennel Club
Region: Plains
Date: Saturday May 16, 2026
Qualifying Dates: February 16, 2025 – February 15, 2026Mid-Del Tinker Kennel Club
Region: South Central
Date: Saturday May 30, 2026
Qualifying dates: February 27, 2025 – March 1, 2026Gloucester Kennel Club of Virginia & Virginia Kennel Club
Region: Mideast
Saturday: June 20, 2026
Qualifying Dates: March 20, 2025 – March 19, 2026Farmington Valley Kennel Club
Region: New England
Date: Saturday July 4, 2026
Qualifying dates: April 3, 2025 – April 4, 2026.Cook Inlet Kennel Club
Region – Alaska Only
Date: July 25, 2026
Qualifying Dates: April 25, 2025 – April 24, 2026Waukesha Kennel Club
Region: Great Lakes
Date: Saturday July 25, 2026
Qualifying Dates: April 25, 2025 – April 24, 2026Santa Barbara Kennel Club
Region: Southwest
Date: Saturday August 22, 2026
Qualifying Dates: May 22, 2025 – May 21, 2026The Greater Murfreesboro and Nashville Kennel Clubs
Region: Southeast
Date: Saturday October 24, 2026
Qualifying dates: July 24, 2025 – July 25, 2026Greater Clark County Kennel Club
Region: Northwest
Date: Saturday November 28, 2026
Qualifying dates: August 28, 2025 – August 27, 2026
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Junior Showmanship Regional Club FAQs
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Frequently Asked Questions for Junior Regional Event hosted by your club!
- What clubs may hold a Junior Regional Event?
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- Junior Regional Events will be held by all-breed licensed or member clubs.
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- How will a club apply to hold a Junior Regional Event?
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- All-breed clubs should submit a proposal outlining why they should be approved to hold a Junior Regional Event. Proposals for the 2027 calendar year will be accepted until June 15, 2026. Tell us what would make your Junior Regional event the best one in the country!
- The Clubs selected to hold a Junior Regional will designate holding a Limited Junior Class competition at the event on the show application.
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- How many Junior Regional Events will be held?
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- There are eight regions, depending on the quality of the proposals there will be eight Junior Regionals.
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- Junior Regional Events will count towards the judge’s limit of 175 entries on the day.
- Can the Junior Regional Judges also judge Junior events on the weekend?
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- Judges will not be approved to judge Juniors at events within 30 days and 200 straight-line miles of each other.
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- When can clubs hold a Junior Regional Event?
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- It is recommended that the Junior Regional should be held on Saturday of a weekend. circuit, or cluster.
- Junior Regionals are a Limited Class competition held as part of the event.
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- Proposals should include the weekend, date (if known) and site of the Junior Regional applied to hold.
- The Club will agree to donate $1,000 to award as Scholarships to the winners. The money is to be sent to the AKC Humane Fund and the winners and distribution will be tracked by AKC Staff.
- AKC will provide the certificate to present to the Scholarship Recipients and form to redeem the scholarship funds.
For any additional questions please email juniors@akc.org
- What clubs may hold a Junior Regional Event?
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Junior Showmanship Regional Exhibitor FAQs
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- How can I enter a Junior Regional?
- Junior Regionals area limited class held within the All-Breed event. Juniors will designate on the entry the Limited Class Junior Competition when entering the event, Juniors should pay close attention to the premium list for directions on how to enter.
- What Juniors are eligible to enter Junior Regionals?
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- The Junior must reside in the region
- The Junior will have earned three first place wins in Open Class with competition in the prior 12 months; ending 3 months prior to the date of the event. A Junior who is 18 who earned the required wins in Open will be eligible to enter.
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- What dogs are eligible to shown in the Junior Regional?
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- The dogs handled in Limited Junior Showmanship must meet the eligibility requirements outlined in Section 7 of the Junior Showmanship Regulations. They may, but need not, be entered in breed or obedience at the particular show.
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For any additional questions please email juniors@akc.org
- How can I enter a Junior Regional?
- Junior Regional Application and Region Breakdown +
- Press Release +